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Collier County public schools starts school year as an "A" district

Posted at 9:24 AM, Aug 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-09 09:24:12-04

According to the Florida Department of Education, Collier County ranks fifth out of 67 districts, after receiving an "A" grade from the state. When Dr. Kamela Patton became superintendent six years ago, CCPS ranked 33rd.

Communications Director, Greg Turchetta says about Patton, "She's a hands on superintendent. She's big on curriculum. She's big on 'Let me see it.' We just don't sit in a building and make changes." He adds, "One of the things that this district has put in place is alignment of systems, alignment of all 50 schools taking the success stories of certain schools and making sure we've done it across the board and when you see a lift like that, 53 percent of our schools are either grade "A" or "B." there's no "F" school in this district." He also says being on the cutting edge of technology and social media is very important. One of their programs is called, "Opening the classroom window." Turchetta says, "Our teachers have social media access to let parents come in and see the innovative teaching exclusive learning opportunities that their kids have everyday." Another major change is in staffing with 13 new principals and 47 new administrators. "We had some people with 40 plus years of experience walk out the door. one of  Dr. Patton's big pushes was succession management, so we have very capable qualified leaders that have been trained coming up through the system. We did not hire a principal out of the district this year."

As for plans to add a school anytime soon, Turchetta says there are none. "Back many years ago, this district did some very good work in acquiring land and having plans and placing schools, so we're well positioned for growth in the future."